It is clear by now that strong
regional divisions do indeed exist in U.S. presidential elections.We can gain a greater insight into why these divisions exist by examining
the characteristics that determine how the U.S. electorate votes.The characteristics of race, religion, education, income, labor union
membership, and urbanization are all significant determinants of voting behavior
among individuals in the United States.

Race

A person’s race plays a major role in how he or she votes.Nowhere is this truer than with the African-American vote.In the 1996 election, an astounding 97 percent of African-Americans cast
their vote for the Democratic candidate, Bill Clinton (Abramson et al. 1998,
93).This can be attributed to the
view held by many African-Americans that the Republican Party is racist and
anti-black.This view can be traced
back to the 1960s, when the Democratic Party supported civil rights while a
majority of Republicans opposed them (Miller and Shanks 1996).Today Democratic support of, and Republican opposition to,
issues such as affirmative action and welfare heavily influence the black vote.

Like African-Americans,
Hispanics are a racial group that has historically supported the Democratic
Party.This can be seen in that 72
percent of the Hispanics who voted cast their ballot for Bill Clinton in the
1996 election.Unlike
African-Americans, however, Republicans have courted the Hispanic vote in recent
elections.One
exception to the traditional support of Democrats among Hispanics is Cuban
voters, who support Republicans because of the party’s strong anti-communist
position (Webster and Webster 1986).

The whites racial group votes
with much less uniformity than do blacks and Hispanics.In 1996, 48 percent of white voters voted for the Democrat and 44 percent
voted for the Republican.White
women, however, favored the Democrat at higher rates than did white men.Fifty-four percent of women cast their vote for the Democrat compared to
only 42 percent of men (Abramson et al. 1998, 93).The white vote also varies heavily depending on the other
characteristics below.

Religion

Religion is another factor which
influences the way a person votes.In
looking at religious voting patterns, however, only white adherents of religion
are considered, as black voters, regardless of their religion, vote
overwhelmingly Democratic.

Jewish voters are the religious
group with the most uniformity.In
1996, over 90 percent of Jews voted for Bill Clinton (Abramson et al. 1998).A perception among many Jewish voters that the Republican Party is
controlled by fundamentalist Christians and that the Democratic Party cares more
about Jewish interests.Jews vote
strongly in favor of Democrats despite the Republican Party’s firmer
pro-Israel policy and the fact that many social issues supported by the
Democrats are contrary to the teachings of the Torah.One reason for this is because a high percentage of Jews are
non-practicing or Reform Jews, who are likely to be in favor of homosexual
rights and against the right to life for unborn children (NJDC 2000).

Like Jews, Catholic voters once
heavily supported Democrats.The
Democratic Party courted immigrant Catholics, especially in the cities, in the
late 1800s and early 1900s (Shelley et al. 1996).The first Catholic to run for president, Al Smith, did so as
a member of the Democratic Party.Catholic
support for the Democrats peaked in 1960, when John F. Kennedy, as a member of
the Democratic Party, became the first Catholic President of the United States (Abramson
et al. 1998).Support for Democrats
among Catholics, though, has been slowly eroding ever since.In 1996 the middle-class Catholic vote went in favor of Clinton 49
percent to 44 percent (Abramson et al. 1998, 95).Clinton’s margin of victory among Catholics was smaller than it was
among the entire population.This
decline in support of Catholics for the Democratic Party can be attributed to
the party’s turn away from the Catholic Church’s values.Strong Democratic opposition to the right to life for the unborn has
turned away many Catholics voters.

In contrast to Catholics,
Protestants are a religious group that heavily supports the Republican Party.As a whole, 52 percent of the white Protestant vote went for Republican
Bob Dole (compared to only 40 percent for Clinton) in the 1996 election (Abramson
et al. 1998, 94).There are,
however, a few variables that need to be considered when analyzing the
Protestant vote.The first is
whether or not the person considers himself or herself “born again.”Of those who did not consider themselves born again, 50 percent voted for
the Democrat in 1996 (which is slightly higher rate than white voters on the
whole) while only 42 percent voted for the Republican.Among those who did consider themselves born again, though, only 31
percent voted Democrat while 61 percent voted Republican.A second variable is whether a person is a mainline or Evangelical
Protestant.While mainline
Protestants only slightly favored the Republican over the Democrat (49 percent
to 45 percent), the division was greater among Evangelical Protestants (52
percent to 38 percent).This is due
to the desire of many Evangelical Protestants to “maintain the status quo”
as they see social change, such as the increase of women in the workplace and
the advancement of civil rights, as a “rebellion against God’s will”
(Webster 1997, 158).They view the
Republican Party as the one that would maintain the status quo.A final variable among Protestants is their religious commitment.Those with a “low to medium commitment” voted in favor of the
Democrat 52 percent compared to 44 percent for the Republican.Those with a “medium to high” commitment voted in favor of the
Republican 57 percent to 32 percent and those with a “very high” commitment
overwhelming voted for the Republican, 72 percent to 24 percent (Abramson et al.
1998, 94).The cause of this is
that those with higher commitment levels are more likely to vote in accordance
with the teachings of their Protestant-Christian religion, which advocates,
especially among Evangelical Protestants, maintaining the status quo (Webster
1992).

Education

There is evidence that the education attainment of white individuals
affects the way that they vote.In
general, the lower the level of education attained, the more likely a person is
to vote Democrat.In 1996, an
overwhelming 83 percent of those over the age of 25 who voted with an 8th
grade education or less voted for Clinton.This compares to just 13 percent who voted for Dole (Abramson et al.
1998, 94).Likewise, the higher the
level of education attained, the more likely a person is to vote Republican.Those who were college graduates (bachelor’s degree) favored Dole 51
percent to 43 percent.However,
among those with advanced degrees, there is a switch back toward Democratic
voting (Abramson et al. 1998, 94).The changeover from a strong support of Democrats to a more
middle of the road stand occurs between those with some high school and high
school graduates.Of those who
voted, 71 percent with some high school voted for Clinton in 1996, compared with
just 48 percent of those who had completed high school (Abramson et al. 1998,
94).

Income

Among whites, family income is another determinant of how a person will
vote.This is closely tied to
educational attainment, since the higher one’s education level, the higher
their income will likely be.It
does not, however, necessarily produce the same voting patterns as educational
attainment.Those with extremely
low incomes tend to vote Democratic while those with exceptionally high incomes
tend to vote Republican.The most
lopsided vote occurs among those with incomes of $10,000 or less.Of those who vote in this group, 69 percent voted for Clinton
in 1996, compared to just 22 percent who voted for Dole (Abramson et al. 1998,
94).Lower income groups support
Democrats for their economic policies, such as welfare, and governmental
programs which they feel they will benefit from more than those promoted by
Republicans.

At the other end of the spectrum, those with incomes of $90,000 or more
voted in favor of Dole 53 percent compared to 41 percent for Clinton (Abramson
et al. 1998, 94).Wealthier
Americans are drawn to Republican social policies that protect family values as
well as economic policies of tax cuts and benefits (Abramson et al. 1998, 94).

Among middle income groups, though, there are inconsistencies.Family income is less likely to affect how a person in a middle-income
group will vote.Family income, it
seems, has the biggest affect on the poorest and the richest Americans in
determining how one will vote.

Labor Union Membership

Labor union membership, among whites, also heavily influences how one
will vote.“Since the 1930s most
union leaders have supported the Democratic Party, and union members have
traditionally been a mainstay of the Democratic presidential coalition” (Abramson
et al. 1998, 97).In the 1996
election, 64 percent of white union members and their families voted for
Clinton, 20 percentage points higher than white non-members (Abramson et al,
94).This gap existed despite
Clinton’s support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was
heavily opposed by labor union leaders (Abramson et al. 1998, 98).Labor Union members and leaders feel the Democratic Party is the one that
looks out for their interests by preventing U.S. jobs from going overseas as
well as by giving aid to sectors of the economy that have been in decline.

Urbanization

Another major indication of how a person will vote is whether they live
in an urban or a rural area.Urban
areas heavily support the Democratic Party while rural areas have broad support
for Republicans (Sauerpof and Swanstrom, 1999).Urban areas have higher than average concentrations of blacks, Jews,
homosexuals, young singles, and elderly people, all of whom form strong
Democratic voting blocs (Shelly et. al. 1998, 107).Urban voters also tend to favor the Democratic Party’s
stance on issues such as gun control, welfare, abortion, governmental programs,
and military spending (DeCorla-Souza 2001).

Rural
voters, on the other hand, are more likely to favor the Republican stand on the
aforementioned issues.Whites, which are more likely than non-whites to vote Republican, make up
a much greater percentage of the population in rural areas.Rural areas also have a greater percentage of traditional families and
Protestant denominations, which support the Republican emphasis on values, have
a larger influence than they do in urban areas (Shelley et al. 1996).